Page 41 of The Fly-Half

“He already does,” he said. “And I remind him that he has to do twice as much work to have even half the impact I do.”

I burst out laughing because, as fullback, half of Bailey’s job seemed to be standing around and waiting for shit to happen. Didn’t mean it wasn’t important, but still.

“Fuck, it’s freezing out here,” Danny said. “I think my balls are going to drop off. Can you get frostbite on your balls? I think I might have it.”

“Whole new meaning to blue balls there,” Charlie said.

“No, you’re not getting frostbite on your balls,” Matty said with a sigh. “And if you’re cold, then run around.” He gestured at the empty area of the pitch behind us. “You’ve got plenty of space.”

Danny grinned and then smacked Charlie on the shoulder. “All right. You’re it.”

“What? No fucking way!” Charlie yelled as Danny took off into the open space. “You wanker.” He turned to the rest of us and I suddenly realised how close he was and bolted away. Mattywas still catching up with what Danny had done, so he moved a fraction too late and was instantly tagged by Charlie.

There were fourteen of us in the group and soon the idea of playing It spread like wildfire amongst us, all of us filling our end of the training pitch as we ran around shrieking like kids in a playground.

“You’re it,” Kegan, who played at inside centre, yelled as he tapped my shoulder before dancing out of my reach as I spun around to grab him back.

“Bastard,” I said with a laugh as I chased after him, my feet thudding on the frozen turf. I wasn’t going to catch Kegan, but Bailey had spotted Hunter and the rest of the forwards wrapping up and was too busy watching them. I grinned as I ran up to him and put my hand between his shoulder blades. “Got ya. You’re it.”

“What the—aw, fuck you, Dev.” Bailey spun on his heel and I dodged out of his way, but I wasn’t quite fast enough. He ducked down and threw his arm around my waist, but instead of tackling me, he swooped me up into his arms and chucked me over his shoulder. He had one arm across my thighs, holding me securely as he began to stride towards Danny.

“What the fuck? Put me down!” I laughed, not actually trying to do anything to escape. I was quite enjoying being carried, and I didn’t want Bailey to drop me because landing on the cold, hard ground was not what I had in mind.

“Team up,” Bailey said, slapping my ass with a broad hand. “I’ll hold you. You get Danny. New rule, get tagged and you’re out.” He shouted the last part across the field as we got close enough for him to spin me around with an outstretched hand to catch Danny’s arm.

“Out!” I yelled.

“Aw, what? Since when?”

“Since now,” I said with another laugh, pointing roughly in the direction of the changing rooms as Bailey strode off towards his next target.

It didn’t take us long to start rounding everyone up, and a few of them were definitely let down by their inability to stop laughing at the sight of me thrown over Bailey’s shoulder and directing him. Most of the forwards were stood watching us from the touchline along with the coaches. Clive yelled something about not being stupid and hurting ourselves, but he wasn’t telling us to stop, so we didn’t.

The last person we tagged was Kegan, who practically surrendered because he was knackered and hungry.

“Victory!” Bailey yelled, punching the air and then playfully slapping my ass again as he carried me over to the touchline. He turned me slightly so I could see who was lined up. Mason and West were still there alongside Jaden and Hunter, who was watching Bailey with a fond smile I’d never seen before. Something between soft and “you are the most ridiculous man I’ve ever seen.”

And then there was Jonny, standing on the end with his arms folded across his chest, his mouth pulled down at the corners and eyes narrowed as he watched us. I rolled my eyes because if he was jealous of Bailey carrying me round, we were going to have words.

But not before I had some fun first.

I was not going to allow my boyfriend to be an asshole, and while the whole possessive thing was hot as fuck, I was not having it bleed over from our private lives into our work. It might be new for Jonny, who still seemed to be figuring out the new whirlwind of emotions he was experiencing, but he was also a grown-ass adult. He needed to behave like one, not some jealous caveman who couldn’t even cope with one of our teammates doing something ridiculous like throwing me overhis shoulder and using me as a human sword slash canon slash poking stick.

Bailey slid me gently over his shoulder and carefully set me down, holding my arm for a second to make sure I didn’t fall over. “We are fucking awesome,” he said as he high-fived me, the slap making my palm sting.

“Hell yeah we are!” I grinned. “Although next time maybe give me some warning before you pick me up.”

“Nah, where’s the fun in that?”

He walked over to Hunter, who playfully shoved him in the shoulder as Clive yelled at us all to head in for the day. I glanced over at Jonny and watched his face twitch slightly, but before I could say anything, Kegan and Frankie, who played at outside centre, grabbed me and began nattering away as we walked back to the changing room.

I decided to let Jonny stew.

It would do him some good. And if Mason noticed and ripped the shit out of him for it, that would be good too.

The changing room was ridiculously warm after the freezing outside temperatures, but it also meant I wouldn’t start shivering the second I stepped out of the shower. Everyone was in a good mood and there was plenty of laughter and jokes as we all showered off and dressed.

When I’d let Jonny feast on my thighs, I hadn’t thought about the fact that every single one of those wankers was going to see me naked—why would it have been high on my list of priorities when I was getting laid?—and I knew I was in for a right ribbing. But West grabbed me as we walked towards the showers and tucked me in at the end, where fewer of them would be able to see me, and stood next to me, shielding me with his massive bulk.

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